Women do not play their aces

The underrepresentation of women at the top of hierarchies is often explained by gender
di erences in preferences. We nd support for this claim by analyzing a large dataset from an
online card game community, a stylized yet natural setting characterized by self-selection into
an uncertain, competitive and male-dominated environment. We observe gender di erences
in playing behavior consistent with women being more averse towards risk and competition.
Moreover, we demonstrate how \shying away" makes female players less successful: despite
no gender gap in playing skills, women accumulate lower scores than men due to their relative
avoidance of risky and competitive situations.